in Which I Am Fabulous

Also the freaks who live with me.
But the HAIR, people, look at the HAIR!
no GRAY!
no SPLIT ENDS!
GLAMOUR!

Look, Ma, I'm a Tauren!

History Timeline, Virginal State

I am ludicrously excited about this. Lo, the Timeline Folder.

There shall be COLOR CODING.

Observe! The regions coincide with what we're doing in this unit. (I'll do another timeline with appropriate regions for the next unit.)

Behold, the ease of access!

Rejoice! As we see the possibilities inherent in the system! (I can unfold the whole thing to see events in chronological context.)

All the Cousins

Look at this pile of idiots! We went to visit my sister, who had my other sister's offpring with her as well. They are such amazing kids. I'm glad Cub and Thumper are growing up with them.

We Can Fly, We Can Fly, We Can Fly!

We play, as a family, this silly mind-sucking game called World of Warcraft. It's essentially Dungeons & Dragons played online with bazillions of people and fabulous graphics. Our latest "accomplishment" is the acquisition of gryphons that we can use to fly all over this magical land. Cub and Thumper are both overjoyed, and have learned to do loop-de-loops. It's as close to Real Flying as they're going to get until they're old enough to sneak behind my back and take hang-gliding lessons!

new Music

oh god ..

I spent friday afternoon catching up on my 'All Songs Considered' Podcasts that I have let queue up in my iTunes list. Heard lots of good things (Sigur Ros rocks!) and found an embarrassing thing for a 42 year old heterosexual male.

I like Kelly Clarkson's music. Yes, that one, the winner of American Idol at some point in the past. Pop Star extravaganza.

So now 'Since U Been Gone' has been running through my video playlist.

The thing about it is ... she's good .. she has a great voice, kinda husky (at least in that song) and she doesn't seem to strain to belt it out.

I may have to buy a few singles.

*Sigh

Dave

Fame Touches Our Family Once Again.

Cub was in the Watermelon Festival play again this year -- normally, I just post pictures, but this time you REALLY need to see a video.



He also played a Lion, here pictured with a lovely flower:
And another lovely flower:
And yet another lovely flower ...
Are you seeing a theme here? As far as these girls are concerned, he is merely a convenient prop in their photo shoot. Fortunately, he's a good sport about it all.

If you'd like to see a few more pictures (of people I didn't give birth to!) hit this link.

It was a gloriously cheesy production, thoroughly enjoyed by audience and actors alike.

Consume, Squander, Dump, Repeat.

Yesterday the Weird Aunts invited me over to inspect the Phat Lewt from their Day of Dumpster Diving. It's the end of the school year, I live in a college town, and the dorms are being purged of their tapeworm-like residents. The dormrooms must be completely emptied before the students leave for summer break. I'm not sure what I expected them to find, but it wasn't what I saw.

I don't know if I can really describe how I felt when I saw what had been left behind, intended for the landfill. Clothes with tags on them, appliances still in boxes, food that was sealed, unopened. The quantity of it was overwhelming. How could people throw this out? How could they not drop it off at one of the eleventy-billion missions, shelters, or kitchens in our city? How freaking selfish is that? I stood there staring, babbling repetitive nonsense and trying not to cry and feeling like a complete dork.

Every single bit of it found a place that it was needed almost immediately. Even the crappy college-kid food is ideal for the homeless, since it's usually portioned and doesn't require refrigeration or a kitchen to prepare.

I asked if I could join them the next time they do this. I can't make people think about what they throw out, but I can at least try to mitigate it. Cub is very excited at the prospect of being invited on the next Dumpster Diving Expedition -- I think he has visions of bungee-ing head first into a giant skip!

Easter Bunnies!

Hungry Mouths!

We came thisclose to bringing these birdlings home. A mockingbird nest fell from a high branch, and the finder brought them to the park (because homeschoolers LOVE this sort of thing!). Fortunately, an older kid wanted to tend them -- I confess, I wasn't looking forward to feeding them every fifteen minutes for the next two weeks, but I couldn't stand the thought of them being abandoned. All the kids had a great time hunting bugs and feeding them that afternoon.